When Keepin’ It Real Goes Wrong.

Spoon’s indie legend revolves around a certain reluctance towards promotion, sort of making them the indie rock world’s favorite secret. But when it comes down to entertainment, they let this mindset ruin things a little, and are unwilling to indulge fans with too much excitement, especially with that of their latest album, Gimme Fiction.

They’re trying a little too hard to avoid the perils of fame, and as a consequence, don’t execute an inspiring live performance.

Most of Spoon’s set was from their older material, a majority of which was long-swirling, throwback stoner rock. Unfortunately, as far as their live show goes, those older sounds tend to deflate a crowd, and unnecessarily mellow out the vibrant mood. The buzz around their recent album caused an unexpected surge of attendance and energy at the show, but the band seemed a little too surprised, and didn’t play to the crowd as much as defended themselves from it.

From Gimme Fiction, they played a no-frills “I Turn My Camera On”, a well-rolled “I Summon You”, as well as “My Mathematical Mind”, “Two Sides Of Monsieur Valentine”, “Beast and Dragon, Adored”, “Sister Jack”, and “Delicate Place”.

These new studio gems were scattered among two of my favorite older Spoon songs, “The Way We Get By” and “Everything Hits At Once”, and about eight drawn-out slowpoke jams. An eager demand for an encore only brought more old, downtempo tracks the audience couldn’t readily attach to.

Some of the tunes melted and flowed really well, but overall, there was a failed bond between the band and crowd, given the anticipation factor. If Spoon would just get comfortable with selling out shows without selling out, and start back-and-forthing their crowd a little more, they’d have a live presence worthy of their studio mastery.